The development and popularity of wireless communication in recent years have resulted in wireless local area networks (WLANs) becoming more and more prevalent. A WLAN typically comprises a number of nodes including one or more access points (APs) and stations (STAs). The nodes may be any type of wireless communication devices such as desktop computers, laptop computers, set-top boxes, personal digital assistants (PDAs), web tablets, and so forth.
The nodes in these WLANs (or simply wireless networks) will typically operate in accordance with a communication standard such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.11x standards including, for example, IEEE 802.11a standard (IEEE std. 802.11a, published 1999) or IEEE 802.11b standard (IEEE std. 802.11b, published 1999). The 802.11x standards are basically carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) based medium access schemes. Because these nodes (i.e., wireless devices) operate in accordance with CSMA based medium access schemes, the wireless devices' performances are subject to the interference level of the wireless networks. That is, any interference may cause a wireless device to back off from transmitting signals in a wireless network and may significantly affect the wireless device's performance. For example, some wireless devices may communicate in a wireless network using one of the unlicensed bands such as the 2.4 GHz frequency band. Unfortunately, certain electronic devices may act as interference sources because they generate signals within the 2.4 GHz spectrum. Examples of such interference sources include, for example, microwave ovens, cordless telephones, Bluetooth, and so forth. Even worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) devices may use an adjacent frequency band and its signals may leak into the 2.4 GHz band as interference. Thus, communication between wireless devices operating in the 2.4 GHz frequency band or other frequency bands may be interrupted from interference produced by such interference sources, particularly when the interference sources are located in the vicinity of the wireless devices.